Container Herb Gardening

Advantages of Container Herb Gardening

• Can be Grown Indoors or Outdoors
• Potted Herbs Look Great
• Can Be Grown in a Limited Space
• Most Herb Varieties are Easy to Grow
• Herbs Grow Well Even in Dryer Soil
• Easily Stands the Hot Afternoon Sun
• Usually Only 1-2 Feedings per Month
• Herbs are Great For Kids: Edible Plants!
• Use a lot Less Than Dried Herbs When Cooking
• Much Fresher Than Store Bought

Herb Recommendations

Basil Cilantro Chives Garlic Dill Oregano

Parsley Rosemary Sage Savory Tarragon Thyme

Containers

When shopping for an Herb Garden Container; hanging baskets, window boxes, plastic and wooden containers, and also clay pots will all work wonderfully.

A good idea however, is to find a pot that has several small drainage holes verses one large hole. The large hole can allow potting soil to escape. Just one more thing you won't have to worry about.

Since a Container Herb Garden is transportable, you might want to find a lighter weight container for easier moving.

Planting Herbs

One great tip to start the ball rolling: If the herb pot has one large drainage hole, place a single layer of newspaper on the bottom of the container. This will keep the soil from escaping when pouring in the potting mix.

Next, you can pour a layer of packing peanuts into the bottom as well. Fill 1/4 to 1/3 of the containerwith the packing peanuts. Along with making the herb container lighter, this will keep you from using so much potting mix and still allow enough room for root growth.

Next, you'll need to fill the pot with potting soil. I highly recommend Miracle Grow Potting Mix. Click here to see my reasons for recommending Miracle Grow Potting Mix. (opens a new window)

Fill soil to approx. 3-4 inches from the top of container. This will leave enough room to place the Herbs onto the top of the potting soil.

Next up, place the herbs into the container with the tallest variety in the center location. (ex.:Rosemary) Then place the lower growing herbs and trailing species (ex.:Oregano & Chives) along the outer edge of the taller varieties.

After finding the right location for the Herbs in your container. Plant them. Then fill in with more potting mix until the soil reaches the top of the container rim.

Watering Instructions For Container Herb Gardening

Next on the agenda, is watering. After filling the pot with potting soil, water the container herb garden to saturate the soil. If the soil level drops to much, simply add a little more potting mix.

Herbs don't require a lot of water to thrive. Most varieties of common herbs even prefer the dry side. My recommendation is to water them only when the soil is dry. How do you tell?

Poke your thumb into the soil. Does it feel moist? If it does, you're good. Does it feel dry? Water some. When it comes to Container Herb Gardening, too little water is better than too much water.

Location

Indoors

• Growing herbs indoors is a great choice to start an herb garden design such as a windowsill herb garden.
• Choose a sunny window. A west facing window that sees at least 5 hours of sunlight is best for your Indoor Herb Garden.

Outdoors

Grow herbs outdoors!

• Back porches, patios, balconies, and garden decks are all superb locations to place your Herb Container Garden.
• An herb garden can blend in and enhance any patio designs you have in mind.
• Need to retrieve your potted herbs easily and quickly? Choose a place that is close to the kitchen or outside door.
• Still yet, they need to have at least 5 hours of sun per day. A west facing location would be ideal.

Fertilizing Herbs

Herbs grown in containers will need to be fertilized about 1-2 times per month. However, if you used the Miracle Grow Potting Soil I recommended earlier, you won't have to worry about fertilizing the first 3 months due to the Slow Release Plant Food contained in the soil mixture.

Not a cook? If you have entertained the thought of herb pots but don't need a culinary herb garden, try these garden herbs.

• Plant Salvia . It can be used in salads.
• Also, mint can be planted for use in lemonade.
• Lavender is known for its great fragrance, but can also be used for tea.
• The Herb, stevia is the natural sugar plant.

That's it for our herb gardening guide and herb garden ideas. You see, growing herbs is not hard. The sky's the limit with Container Herb Gardening......or any kind of Container Gardening!

You dream it. You can do it!